St. Landry democrat., 1887-08-20

tafucn-tnat is 10 say d peHkllllt, d uuuh
Of bread and a tin dipper-but it is very
light to found home with Of furnl
ture, | have seen mattress, table, two
chairs and pair Of blankets serve a
whole family which brought nothing else
except trunk full of clothing, trunk
full of tinWare and crockery, and a
clock. You will go in many pio-
neer houses without finding a stove.
\ wood fire on the ground
answers at first, and an open fireplace
under chimney indoors afterward.
And though you laugh, as you may,
many man with such an outfit
looks around upon his land, his family
and his little kit Of goods with what We
call the pride of a king, though no king
ever knew what such pride was, and no
millionaire either-unless it was w. II.
Vanderbilt when he was a farmer and
succeeded in paying off a mortgage that
his father, the old commodore, had
scolded him roundly for mourning.
But that pride of the pioneer is as
nothing to that which he feels when he
finds himself the owner of substantial
home | suspect all men are alike in the
possession of this Joy of roof-OWner-
ship. But what sort of a house is it, do
YOU suppose, that the man puts up while
his little flock is nestled in the tent? Of
course it is built of the materials nearest
at hand and least expensive. In our
Western States and Territories this is
oftenest wood, either in the form of reg
ular frame houses or Of rude logs, but in
long ranges of the Canadian prairie the
cheapest material is sod, and the sod-hut
is the commonest form of house provided
by the poor beginners.
4 sod house sounds poorly, but the
actua! habitation looks worse than even
the idea suggested by the humble term,
and vet sods make very comfortable
homes, indeed-very cool in summer,
very warm in winter, very tight against
rain and as roomy and well arranged as
YOU please. The pioneer has no sooner
established his household in his tent and
thrown up a corral of boughs to pen in
his horse or oxen-if he has them-than
he goes to work to build his dollhouse.
First he puts up very open framework
of stout uprights with lighter cross
pieces at the top to rest the roof upon,
and then he cuts his sods by the hundred
in cakes about a couple of feet square,
and builds up his wall around the frame
work, cake on cake, like laying brick,
until the four walls are even with the roof
line. Then, for roof, he puts double,
or perhaps a treble, thickness of the
same sods in the roof frame, leaving a
hole for brick chimney or stovepipe,
just as he left openings in the wall tor
door and windows. He does not have
to learn the art of building to accomplish
this. Anybody can build such house
indeed, it reminds one of the play
houses children make of snowcakes
boxes or blocks. Shabby it looks, in
deed, when done, but have been enter
tanned in them, and finding the interiors
partioned into rooms and floored witt
boards and we'll appointed, | have
thought that | would not exchange suct
a home for the solid masonry o.
a crowded New York tenement-no
not for the tenement rent free
The flooring was overlooked in the
description of the building. Well, it i:
not always included until the first crop:
are sold and the next winter affords timt
for improvements. With the secOnc
winter and the first proceeds of his toll
the pioneer often sheathes the interior o
his hut with boards, builds a brick fire
place and chimney, makes an extra bed
stead or two, and chairs, and closets, ant
tables, perhaps, out of lumber bought a
! the nearest railroad station. You woult
scarcely think you could make bed
stead but look at one, rid of its orna
ments, and with crossed ropes in place o
the mattress, and see for yourself how
simple the trick is.
The pioneer may not have bought hi
wagon and team before he built hi
house, but if he has the money and ask
his neighbors all will tell him that tn
sooner he buys it the better of he vii
be. Whether he is in Canada or in thi
country he will buy wagon of Ameri
can make, because it is the best, an
he will buy an OK team, because it cal
be bought for less than one good horse
and is better suited for the work
Then, with his house finished and
pillow purchased, he will set to work t
break his land for the spring sowing
/ The first blowing merely slices ant
loosens the grass into long rows'of sods
exposing the black earth beneath
Flowing the same piece crosswise fit
the land for sowing.
And now the winter comes and the pl
oneer has nothing to do but to fix up hi
house, his fences if he needs any ant
gossip with his neighbors. Aye, there
the rub. He may have neighbor mil
away on the next government section
but if he has he is lucky, and if he ha
two he may consider himself blessed
Outside the little clusters of traders AM
mechanics. tavernkeepers and railroad
mems houses at the stations, found tn
houses usually miles apart-three or tlv
or ten miles from one another; so far, II
fact, thet | was told that when part,
or dance was held at any of thes
houses in the winter men and womel
came twenty-five or thirty miles, and hat
to do so to make up good-slzed assem-
/ bly,. Fortunately man is sociable ami
NAL, pioneers must have stout legs, ant
walking ON the prairie is good (even If /
is so level and bare above the grass tina
when young settler walks out hand-in
hand with his sweetheart every motion
they make is observable within radiu
of eight or ten miles,, so that cOmpan
ionship and communion exist even a
that disadvantage.
"The loneliness is beyond belief or de
scription," said one pioneer; "men g
stark mad so frequently that it is said tn
proportional number of cases of insanit,
! in new country like this is far greater
than that in the populous old States.
am with my brother, but he went back t.
/ the old country on flying trip last white
! and | experienced solitude such as hat
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